The Outdoor Classroom: Contest Information

Hemel House created a contest to encourage providers to transition their yard into an outdoor classroom, providing more natural materials and areas to help stimulate various types of play and more child centered learning. Because of this contest we hope that our day homes' play spaces are undergoing some major changes. We want to be inspired by the creativity of our day home providers.


This contest was inspired by a blog post on Child Central Station about creating an outdoor classroom. This information, as well as her slide show, was presented at our Hemel House training meeting in May for ideas and motivation.


See the slide show


The Checklist
The following checklist will be used to evaluation the outdoor play settings for young children in our day homes.

The Environment Is Safe

• Free of toxins, free of allergenic, poisonous, and spiky varieties of plants
• Fall-absorbing surfaces in all equipment settings
• Free of steep slopes and sudden drop offs
• Well-maintained equipment
• Well-supervised
• Hard surface paths separated from other play areas
• Play area securely separated from traffic
• Provides hand rails and non-skid surfaces where needed
• Properly drained clearly-defined boundaries between play settings
• No visual barriers for supervision
• Adequate space around swings and climbing equipment

___/11 points

The Environment Is Comfortable

• Provides shade
• Features sunny areas
• Protects from cold wind
• Features places to sit (for children and adults)
• Provides access to fresh drinking water
• Includes small spaces for quiet play (by 1 to 5 children)
• Includes a variety of well-defined zones to accommodate different groupings of children and different activities
• Features transition areas between buildings and outdoors (e.g., terraces, decks, patios, etc.)

___/8 points

The Environment Is Interesting and Inviting

• Features attractive plants includes a variety of surfaces and terrains
• Attracts wildlife
• Offers a variety of social spaces (for different size groups & different types of activities)

___/3 points

The Environment Is Stimulating

• Features different colors, scents, and sounds
• Provides for a variety of activities
• Offers high places from which to view the area
• Offers different-sized spaces to crawl in, under, over, or through
• Invites interaction with the natural environment

___/5 points

The Environment Is Flexible

• Includes “loose parts” which can be moved about
• Includes access to elements which can be changed or moved about (sand, dirt, vegetation, water)
• Includes undefined spaces and objects which children can use for creative &fantasy play

___/3 points

The Environment Is Accessible

• Includes child-sized tables and benches
• Offers several skill levels or levels of difficulty (e.g., high, higher, highest)
• Includes wheelchair accessible entrances, ramps, paths, tables, playground equipment

___/3 points

The Environment Is Challenging

• Provides opportunities for healthy risk taking for children with varying abilities

___/1 point

Outdoor Learning Centers

• Imaginative/Dramatic Play
• Molding Activities
• Art
• Reading and writing (language)
• Blocks
• Wet/Dry
• Science
• Gross motor
• Quiet area
• Conceptual/table top/fine motor
• Music

___/11 points

OUTDOOR PLAY ZONES

• Nature Zone (Natural elements: trees, water, boulders, plants, mounds of earth for climbing, bushes to create smaller protected spaces)
• Adventure Zone (Active play: construction, building blocks and lumber, child shovels, sand, stones)
• Active Play Zone (balls, wheeled toys, parking area, rough and tumble play grassy area)
• Quiet Learning Zone (table, easles, places to sit, protected area from weather, tent)
• Quiet Play Zone (place to rest, observe, reflect or dream – child sized bench, etc.)

___/5 points

We look forward to see all entrants into the contest and the amazing ideas that will be included!